Collins Concedes, Dorcena Forry Wins 1st Suffolk Senate Primary

BOSTON State Rep. Nick Collins, a South Boston Democrat, on Wednesday conceded defeat in Tuesday’s state Senate Democratic primary to rival state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, of Dorchester.

“While I am disappointed in the result, I am proud of the campaign that we conducted in the neighborhoods of our district,” Collins said in a statement.

Collins, Forry and South Boston entrepreneur and blogger Maureen Dahill were vying to replace former Sen. Jack Hart of South Boston, who left the Legislature earlier this year for the private sector.

“We ran a positive campaign that empowered the many ethnic communities that have not had a true voice in politics and government until now. We broke through the geographic and ethnic boundaries that have symbolically and historically seemed to divide us and I am especially proud of that fact. For me, identity politics never had a place in my campaign.”

The seat was previously held by former state Senate President William Bulger and Congressman Stephen Lynch, both of South Boston.

Before all the results were in, Collins was projected as the winner by several news operations, but later in the evening Forry declared victory.

According to Boston City Hall, Forry won 47 percent, Collins won 45.26 percent and Dahill won 7.3 percent, and 0.4 percent were write-ins.

Joe Ureneck of Dorchester, the chairman and a vocal supporter of the Fatherhood Coalition, was unchallenged in the Republican primary and will face the Democratic nominee in the May 28 general election for a seat long controlled by Democrats.

If she wins, Forry, a Haitian-American from Dorchester, would be the second woman of color in the state Senate, along with Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain).